Anyhing for You
by Yemam2422
Summary: Four times Rio says "I'll take care of it for you" to Beth. From @fandomfusion-blog-blog's tumblr prompt. General S2 timeframe.


Rio has learned to embrace the rush of adrenaline that comes from dangerous situations. His jumping heart rate, the surge of energy to his muscles, his shallow breathing all familiar and welcome signs. Actually, the more danger, the more his mind cleared.

So an odd calm washed over him when Beth's 911 text pinged his phone. They agreed she'd send that and only that in emergency situations. He immediately laser focused on what he had to do to, sped to the address, found her sitting in a car, one of his cars, outside the drop point – an old, tattered A-frame house.

"Tell me everything that happened," Rio said, sliding into the passenger seat, tensely alert, scanning the surroundings.

Beth did, starting with how she parked the car in the driveway, how she looked for the black duffel bag that was supposed to be on side of the house under the second window, how it wasn't there, how she knocked on the front door, how the man who answered acted like he had no idea what she was talking about, how he blocked her from entering, how he called her a dumb bitch, grabbed her by the neck, threw her backward, hard enough that she fell down the steps.

When she finished Rio was silent. He took his deals seriously and fifty-fifty meant Beth managed the drops on her own, no one cleaned up after her. Rio knew he was short on sympathy. He had zero time or patience for people or actions that could hurt his business, get him killed. But he couldn't blame Beth for this. The red handprint still visible on her throat told him everything he needed to know. This was about someone disrespecting him, disrespecting Beth.

"I'll take care of it for you," he finally said. He got out of the car, palming the gun at his waist, confirming it was in place.

Beth shivered from his tone, knowing she wouldn't be able to stop him, talk him out of doing whatever he had in mind. What caught Beth's attention most was how his eyes darkened, his lips tightened. He looked menacing.

"I'm coming with you," Beth insisted. But Rio didn't hear her. He was already yards ahead of her, walking quickly to the house, taking the porch steps in one stride, practically ripping the screen door from its hinges and kicking the front door so hard it banged against the wall.

By the time Beth caught up she was only able to take in a blur of impressions. Rio moving powerfully around the dusty living room. There were two men with him - the one who answered the door, and a shorter, wider version of him. Rio's not using his gun as Beth expected. Instead, his fists and feet and knees lashed out, landing on the men's crotches and chins and faces. Rio hurled the larger man across the room. Staggering to his feet, he took a wild swing that Rio easily ducked. Before he could fully regain his footing, Rio punched him in the face. Blood spurted from his nose, but that didn't stop Rio from getting in several punches to his kidneys and ribs and finally his temple before he collapsed, unconscious.

The second man came in swinging but Rio caught his fist and forced it behind his back. Rio said something to him, so quietly, his lips so close to the man's ear that Beth couldn't make any of it out. Then he shoved the man's arm unnaturally upward with a sickening popping sound. The man screamed and crumpled to the floor, his arm dangling at his side.

Only after Rio surveyed the room, apparently finding the damage sufficient, did he notice Beth, his hard, stony eyes meeting hers.

"Let's go," he said, grabbing her by the elbow.

Beth looked over at him as they walked back to the car, watched the tension drain from his body, his mission accomplished. He's breathing heavily but otherwise no sign of what just happened. She tried to read his expression, but this was a man who had perfected the art of not revealing what he was thinking or feeling or wanting. A primitive male force seemed to emanate from him. Beth knew Rio was violent, aggressive. He pointed a gun to her head more than once, after all. But seeing him in action just then had been unnerving and there was also something so…sexual about it. Beth was confused by the tingling heat that crept through her body.

Rio opened the passenger door for her before walking around to the driver side.

"You don't have to worry about them anymore," he said after he had pulled away from the curb.

Beth's instinct was to lean over and kiss his unshaven cheek. She hadn't realized it until just now, but in this dark, dangerous world she found herself in, asked to be in, Rio was her only security. She felt safe with him, even when he was hard on her, told her to do more, do better. She blinked the thoughts away as they drove in silence.

"Bad time?" Rio asked, walking into Beth's kitchen, unannounced as usual, finding her flustered and surrounded by trays of cookies, flour, sugar and gobs of green and yellow.

Beth stared daggers into him, her wordless response saying everything.

"The bag is over there." Beth nodded distractedly toward the closet. She had more important things to worry about than Rio's money. She promised to bake two dozen sugar cookies for Kenny's class, decorated in his school colors. But it was after 10:00 pm and she wasn't even halfway done.

Rio grabbed a cookie off the counter and took a bite.

"Tastes good," he said.

"Yes, they do," Beth replied. "The problem is this icing." She held up the piping bag in her hand, exasperated. "If you add to much water it becomes runny and won't stay on the cookie."

With her free hand, Beth held up a cookie. Instead of the precise stripes she had planned, icing ran haphazardly off its edges. Frustrated, Beth threw the cookie and bag down onto the counter, the mess splattering everywhere.

"I'm sorry," she said, quietly, wiping her face and hands with a kitchen cloth, not entirely sure what she was apologizing for. "Let me get the bag."

"You missed some."

"What?"

"Frosting." Rio walked around the corner to stand in front of Beth. "I'll take care of for you."

His eyes locked onto hers and refused to let go as he wiped a splatter from her cheek, flicking his tongue across the tip of his finger to lick it off. Rio's not used to seeing Beth like this – frazzled. Her hair was pinned back into a clip but loose strands fell around her face, the nape of her neck. He remembered how spectacular she tasted there, the urgent kisses he'd placed there that night in the bathroom. He wondered if she'd moan and lean into him in the same way if he were to do it again. He thought he knew the answer.

He lifted her hand, her fingers covered in icing, and the only thing Beth could think of was how much she wanted him to lick her fingertips. She imagined, could remember, the wet, gentle feel of his tongue. Beth's heart pounded against her chest. Not realizing she'd been holding her breath, her lips opened, she shuddered out a sigh, her eyes dropped to his mouth. Beth found herself swaying closer.

The oven beeped signaling her next batch of cookies was done. They snapped apart. Beth straightened, Rio dropped her hand.

"Well," Beth said brightly, trying to ignore whatever just happened between them. "I need to finish these cookies."

"Right," Rio replied since it was easier to agree than to make sense of tangled feelings that always surfaced around Beth. "You should try adding more powdered sugar."

Rio nodded to the icing before grabbing his duffel bag and letting himself out as stealthily as he came in.

Beth stretched her neck to one side, forcing the muscles as far as they would go, hoping to remove the tight strain that had been pulling there all day.

"Neck bothering you?" Rio asked. They were standing at his warehouse office, a sparse room with just a table and a couple of chairs. But that's all they needed to plan out the next month's schedule – drops, pickups, the when and where of crime. Rio plugged the names and dates into his phone, Beth wrote notes on her color-coded calendar.

"I think I just slept on it funny," Beth said wincing as brought her ear to her shoulder.

"I'll take care of it for you."

Before Beth could protest, Rio was standing behind her, brushing the hair away from her neck, kneading her shoulders. Her immediate reaction was to tense, stand rigidly. But it took only a few seconds for her to relax into his hands, to welcome the warmth of his body behind hers.

Rio ran his thumbs up and down her neck before moving them to her shoulders, changing to a circular motion. Beth bit back a moan when he increased the pressure and reversed direction. His touch was light at first but got stronger as he slipped his fingers under the collar of her shirt, digging deep into her skin. He changed patterns as he want along, mixing relaxing touches with forceful ones. Sometimes using both hands on one side, then alternating.

It had been over a year since Beth's last massage, a luxury expense she could no longer justify. So she quickly got lost in the moment, silent, aware of her breathing, hypnotized by the skill of his hands, her nerve endings vibrating from his touch. She could have stayed like that, tucked against him, forever.

It was only when he leaned forward and whispered into her ear did Beth remember where she was.

"Better?" he whispered.

"Yes. Thank you."

When Beth turned to face him his gaze drifted hungrily over her body, but he stepped back, returned to his work.

Rio's gentleness surprised her. Not that she ever really knew what to expect from him. Working with him was always one surprise after another. The only thing that wasn't a surprise was her response to him. She wanted more of what he offered. Always.

Inviting Rio to her home, into her bedroom hadn't been planned. So Beth was keenly aware of every second that passed between them, one ticking into the next. One moment she's shrugging off her coat, then reaching up to kiss him. The next he's kissing her back, laying naked on the bed with her.

Their kisses were hungry, their touches greedy. Whatever this thing was between them, it possessed its own energy. He layered kisses all over her body, drawing out moans and gasps and sighs that sounded foreign to her.

He left a trail of goose bumps in the wake of his touch, first his fingers, then his lips. Down her neck, over her breasts, across her stomach, moving lower, hovering just above where she ached for him. His fingers traced playful circles around her thighs, tickling, darting close then retreating.

Beth's hands pushed at him, desperate, her fingernails urgent on his skin as he braced above her.

"You want something, ma?" He asked, teasing.

When she whimpered, rocked her hips up into him, wordlessly telling him how much more she wanted, and where, Rio relented.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll take care of it for you," he said, his eyes lighting up, twinkling with naughtiness.

He kissed a path up her leg, nipping softly along the inside of her thigh before burying his face in her, stroking his tongue up and down, drawing her into his mouth, sucking in her heat and wetness. When she clutched his head, wrapped her legs tightly around his neck, he knew she was close. Rio quickened his pace, increased his pressure, until she came hard on his lips, his tongue, his mouth.

Rio watched Beth float down from her high, pure satisfaction on her face. He committed the moment to memory, willing to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to make her look like that again and again.


End file.
